Ad Orientem

Fr. Pisut,

I was at Mass on Friday, June 26. As a convert to the faith it was the first time I had seen Mass said ad orientem. During the homily you did a wonderful job of explaining why Mass is said that way. Would you explain it again so I could have it in writing for future reference?

Thanks,
Laurette


Laurette,

Many persons who experienced the Mass before the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) often refer to the priest as having his back toward the people. In fact, however, the priest no more had his back to the people then the person sitting in the pew in front of you has their back to you. Describing the priest as having his back to you is technically accurate as far as describing the physical orientation of the priest in relationship to the congregation. However, this description is not accurate in reference to the orientation of all persons at Mass in their prayer relationship to God, which is what the Mass is about. In the early Church Mass was celebrated ad orientem (towards the east) since that was the direction of the rising sun, the direction from which Christ would come again. Churches were built facing the east so that all persons faced the east with the congregation behind the priest. Sometimes a church was built facing the west in which case the priest faced east and the congregation faced him but the congregation would turn towards the east during the Eucharist prayer so that all persons would be facing the east with the priest actually behind the people. When churches were not always able to be built facing the east the inside of the Church was considered to face liturgical east where all would face the same direction in prayer, facing the Lord. As time went on people forgot as to why they were all facing the same direction. Focusing in on ourselves as the point of reference, as we are all prone to do, people came to see the priest not as facing the Lord in prayer with them but as having his back to the people.

The Second Vatican Council never required Mass to be celebrated versus populum (facing the people) nor have any other documents. The practice of the priest facing the people developed in the years following the Council as many persons claimed it to be part of the spirit of Vatican II, a nebulous concept which has no foundation in the Council's documents. As with the perception that the priest had his back to the people, celebrating mass facing the people can have the effect of drawing the congregation in on themselves and thinking that the Mass is about them and not about God. In order to remedy this Pope Benedict the XVI has brought back the traditional altar arrangement of having a large crucifix and six candlesticks (seven for a bishop) at the front of the altar for the priest to focus on since the celebration of the Mass is a participation of Christ's sacrifice on the cross for our redemption. This has been dubbed by some the "Benedictine" altar arrangement. When all persons faced the same direction the cross would be high up on the altar in front of the priest for all to see. With the priest facing the people the crucifix stands between them. Ideally the corpus (body of Jesus) should be facing the priest to keep him focused during Mass. However, hopefully the priest should be well aware of what the Mass is about so I find it beneficial to face the corpus towards the congregation to help them focus on the true purpose of the Mass. The practice is developing of double-sided crucifixes, as we have at Sacred Heart, so that both the priest and the congregation can focus on the corpus and not each other.

The rubrics in the Roman Missal (the book the priest uses at Mass) even presumes that the priest is celebrating Mass ad orientem as it often instructs the priest to turn toward the people, presuming that he was facing away from them. This is because, as mentioned earlier, the Mass is a prayer to God and if one listens to the text of the Mass they will notice that the words are addressed to God. Therefore, it is inappropriate, to look at the congregation when the priest is speaking to God just as it would be inappropriate in our own conversations to speak to one person but actually be looking at another. When the texts of the Mass are acutally addressed to the people then the priest is instructed to turn toward them, otherwise he turns toward the Lord. When Mass is celebrated facing the people the priest should pick his "God-spot," as my seminary instructor said, so that for the celebration of Mass the orientation of the priest toward the divine is emphasized. The priest should only turn towards the people when the texts merit it.

The celebration of Mass ad orientem is a revered liturgical tradition of the Church, which is still a perfectly legitimate way of celebrating Mass. Because of this and in order to facilitate a proper understanding of the Mass and our proper orientation in it Sacred Heart is now having Mass celebrated ad orientem on Friday's at 8:30 AM so that the faithful may have access to the fruits of our liturgical patrimony. I myself find it very powerful to celebrate Mass at the great hight altar as it was intended to be used. I find myself to be more focused and many other parishioners have said the same. For those who haven't experienced it or for those who don't quite appreciate it I invite you to try to think with the mind of the Church and enter more fully into the Church's liturgical heritage.

Fr. Pisut